The Sailboat Incident
by Siorah
Summary: Steve and Quinn are moving a sailboat to another harbor when an explosion occurs.


Pt. 1 An Explosion

"Quinn! Quinn, Calm down!" Steve calls to his niece as he swims towards her.

"Uncle Steve!" Quinn called desperately looking around frantically to find her Uncle.

Recognizing that the frightened girl is near hysterics, Steve reaches underwater grabbing the girl around her waist, turning her and sliding his arm over her shoulder and across her body holding her so she is resting against his side. "Quinn it's all right, calm down. I am right here, stop moving and rest for a moment." Steve instructs in a reassuring voice.

Feeling the youngster shaking in his arms, he tightens his hold on the girl murmuring reassurances.

Finally after several minutes of resting securely in her Uncle's grasp, Quinn manages to calm down. Sensing that the girl has moved past her panic, Steve turns her so she is facing him, keeping one arm wrapped around her protectively. He assess her for injuries noting the cut on her forehead that is seeping blood. Seeing no other injuries, he is relieved to hear her speak.

"Uncle Steve, the boat exploded" Quinn says in a small, shocked voice.

Steve tightens his hold on the girl reassuringly before responding "I know kiddo, are you hurt anywhere else?"

Quinn takes a moment to answer, "No, I'm okay. What about you?"

"I'm fine. But there are some things I have to do so we can get out of the water. Can you tread water on your own for a minute?" Steve asks as he sights the life raft he had thrown into the water seconds before the explosion on the sailboat sank the ship.

"Yes." Quinn replied softly

"Show me." Steve ordered firmly letting go of the girl and watching her begin to tread water."

Seeing the girl was managing to keep her head above the water Steve pointed towards the floating raft capsule. "Quinn, we need to swim over to the raft can you do that?"

"Yes." Quinn replied. Steve nodded and the two began to swim towards the floating capsule. When they arrive, Steve pushes the girl in back of him and pulls the line to deploy the raft.

After the raft inflates fully, Steve pulls Quinn to the side of the raft and helps her climb in following after her quickly. Once they are in the raft he opens the supply box and is relieved to see water and food along with emergency blankets and a well stocked first aid kit.

Pulling out the first-aid kit Steve turns to see his niece sitting quietly against the side of the raft. Moving to kneel next to her he gently tilts her head up to see the extent of the cut. Opening the first aid kit he gathers gauze and band-aids along with anti-biotic cream.

"Quinn, the cut is not bad." he says gently as he begins to clean the wound then applies the band-aid while watching his niece carefully.

Quinn nods at her Uncle with wide eyes "Uncle Steve, the boat exploded." She repeats.

Steve nods gently smoothing his hand over the girl's hair "I know. We will be okay. Just try to relax, does anything else hurt?"

"No, I'm okay." Quinn replies softly as she pulls her knees up to her chest.

" I have to do some things to get us to safety. You stay put." Steve says as he unstraps the paddle from the raft and begins to propel the raft towards the wreckage of the boat. When the raft reaches the bow of the ship sticking out of the water he ties the raft loosely to the sunken ship.

"Okay, the boat has an emergency rescue beacon we should see help within a couple of hours. If not we will make another plan." Steve explains gently to the girl.

"Uncle Steve, why did the boat explode? Is it that man coming back to hurt you?" Quinn asked tearfully as Steve moved to sit next to her

"No love, this is Admiral Forest's boat, nobody knew I was moving it to Kauai Harbor as a favor to him and he only asked me this morning. Whatever happened, we were not the target. In fact, I think it might have been an engine problem that led to the explosion" Steve said calmly

"When will help come?" Quinn asked softly

"Soon, Quinn try to relax." Steve said getting water bottles out of the supply kit and handing one to the girl.

"Drink that slowly." Steve said as he opened his own bottle of water.

Several hours later help still had not arrived. With no help on the horizon, Steve knew they would need a different plan.

"Quinn, I think the emergency beacon did not go off. I need to dive down to the boat and get the emergency kit. It should have a handheld beacon. I need to do this before the sun sets." Steve explains as he pulls his shirt off "Stay here, no matter what. If the boat starts to move cut the line. Understand?" Steve asks handing the girl the knife from the emergency kit.

Quinn nods, and noticing her apprehensive look he adds.

" I will be right back. I promise. Remember, this is what I did in the Navy. I will be fine." Steve reassures the girl before slipping over the side of the raft

Three minutes later Steve is back "I can't get through the opening." he says climbing aboard the raft. We will just have to wait for morning to make another plan.

"Okay' Quinn says in relief, glad that her Uncle was safely back aboard the raft.

Quinn peers over the side of the boat "Uncle Steve, I could get through the opening."

Steve shakes his head "No, its very dangerous."

"But..." Quinn begins to argue

"Quinn!" Steve says sternly

Quinn sighs knowing this means, 'Don't argue with me or you will not like the results.'

"In the meantime we have yummy protein bars for dinner." Steve says with a wicked grin.

"Um-mm...no thanks." Quinn said wrinkling her nose at the package.

"Yes, you need to eat. We will need our strength in the morning." Steve says firmly beginning to eat his own bar.

Quinn rolls her eyes at her Uncle and halfheartedly nibbles on the bar.

When they are finished, Steve gives Quinn a lifejacket from the emergency box to use for a pillow. After watching the sunset and the stars appear and brighten the night sky the girl drops off into a light sleep. Steve keeps watch for several hours before doing the same.

The first light of the sun wakes Quinn from a restless sleep. She is thirsty, but also has a pressing need to use the bathroom. She smiled to herself at the thought of a bathroom, being that they were a long ways away from one. Figuring the ocean was her next best bet, she slips quietly overboard trying not to wake her Uncle. Once her bladder is relieved she realizes she is treading water above the sunken boat and she can see clearly where her Uncle tried to get into the submerged ship yesterday. Its an easy 20 foot dive and Quinn has a clear memory of where the emergency bag is located. Breathing rapidly to hyperventilate she dives down to the boat. She is easily able to enter the ship and find the emergency bag in its storage unit inside the cabin. Dragging it to the opening proves to be difficult due to its weight and when she clears the boat she finds that it is difficult to swim to the surface with it. Struggling to the surface Quinn's vision begins to go gray at the edges, the beginning of shallow water blackout. Five meters from the surface and Quinn begins to lose her battle to stay conscious.

Steve woke suddenly realizing something was wrong, well more wrong then before he fell asleep. Looking around the raft he realizes Quinn is not on board, looking frantically over the side he sees the girl struggling to bring the emergency bag to the surface. Realizing she is in trouble, Steve dives into the water and swims rapidly to her, arriving just as she blacks out. Grabbing the girl and the bag he kicks to the surface throwing the bag over the side of the raft. Realizing that Quinn is not breathing and he swiftly boosts her back into the raft and climbs in after her. Laying her down on the floor of the raft, Steve quickly feels for a pulse and is relieved to find one. Opening her airway Steve delivers two quick rescue breaths this has the desired result of causing Quinn to attempt to resume breathing which triggers an automatic coughing spell. Steve turns the girl on her side until she has coughed up all the water in her lungs and she is breathing normally on her own.

Opening her eyes, Quinn struggles to sit up only to have her Uncle gently hold her shoulders so she remains lying on her side. "Quinn, lie still." he orders gently.

"Uncle Steve..the emergency bag." Quinn says weakly

"I know, its right here, but now you need to lie still." Steve orders the girl firmly as he checks her pulse and monitors her breathing. After a few minutes, he is willing to let the girl move. He assists her into a sitting position against the side of the raft, then moves to kneel next to her and leans her forward over his forearm placing his ear against her back to listen to her lungs. Sighing in relief when he hears no congestion.

"I think I'm okay, Uncle Steve." Quinn volunteers in a small voice as her Uncle settles her back against the side of the raft.

Steve stares at the girl for a full minute. "You were not breathing a few minutes ago. You do not get to make that call." he says as he sits next to her.

Quinn squirms miserably "I was just trying to help"

Steve glares down at the girl "What did you think ..'no, its too dangerous meant'?"

"I sort of forgot you said that when I was in the water." Quinn admits sheepishly

Steve pins the girl with a stern look before saying angrily "I see, well don't worry you will have ample time to remember how important it is to listen to what I say because you will be grounded for two weeks when we get home. In fact, you will be lucky if you are able to sit comfortably during that time."

"Uncle Steve, could you yell at me later." Quinn asked softly before dissolving into tears.

Steve sighs and pulls the girl closer to him and into a gentle hug. "Okay, no more yelling today. Just promise me you will never do anything so dangerous again."

Quinn nodded against his chest "Okay...Uncle Steve, I just want to go home."

Steve winces at the frightened sound of his nieces voice and tightens his hold on the girl "I know sweetheart, me too."

Steve holds the girl for a few more minutes before reaching down and tipping her chin up with his finger "You are still grounded."

Quinn nodded shakily "Okay."

"Lets see whats in this bag." Steve said pulling the bag close to him.

In the bag there is more water, some granola bars, blankets, flashlights, flares and another first aid kit. Most importantly there is a distress beacon. Steve sets it on the floor of the raft before setting it off.

"Is it working?" Quinn asks, anxiety lacing her voice.

Steve points to the flashing light "It is transmitting, so yes it is working. Now we just have to wait."

Several hours later a Coast Guard Heliocopter arrives on scene.

(TBC)


End file.
